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Teacher-approved readings for today's students

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OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS


Teachers tell us that the single most important factor in engaging their students in reading
courses is having a book that offers high-interest, level-appropriate content. So, as its title
suggests, Select Readings, Second Edition features dynamic, carefully selected readings
chosen by experienced teachers to meet the needs of today's global learners.

The publisher would like to thank the following teachers who worked closely with us to select
and approve the topics and reading passages throughout Select Readings, Second Edition:

Paul Batt, EMU, Taichung
Andrew Boon, Toyo Gakuen University, Japan
Crystal Brunelli, Tokyo Jogakkan Middle and High
School, Japan
ilke Buyukduman, Istanbul Sehir University, Turkey
Tina Chantal Chen, English Language Institute of
Testing and Education, Zhonghe City
Kim Dammers, Konyang University, Korea
Erdogan Erturkoglu, Bezmi Alem University, Turkey
Lee Faire, Toyama College of Foreign Languages, Japan
Vuehchiu Fang, National Formosa University, Huwei
Wendy M. Gough, St. Mary College/Nunoike Gaigo
Senmon Gakko, Japan
Michael Griffin, Chung-Ang University, Korea
Hirofumi Hosokawa, Fukuoka Jo Gakuin University,
Japan
Zoe Hsu, National Tainan University, Tainan
Cecile Hwang, Changwon National University, Korea
Zeynep Kurular, ITU SFL Prep School, Turkey
Carmella Lieske, Shimane University, Japan

Desiree Lin, Tunghai University, Taichung City
Wan-yun Sophia Liu, CEO Language Institute,
Sanchong City
Wen-Hsing Luo, National Hsinchu University of
Education, Hukou
Shuji Narita, Osaka University of Economics, Japan

Aybike Oguz, Ozyegin University, Turkey
Sakae Onoda, Kanda University of International Studies,
Japan
Zekariya Oz�evik, KTO Karatay University, Turkey
Erick Romero, Centro de Educaci6n Integral de Celaya
S.C., Mexico
Jessica Hsiu-ching Shen, Chia Nan University of
Pharmacy & Science, Tainan
Mi-Young Song, Kyungwon University International
Language Center, Korea
Susan Sunflower, Teacher Education Consultant. U.S.
David Tonetti, Sullivan School, Korea
N l Walters, Kagoshima Immaculate Heart University,
Japan
Shan-Shan Wang, National Taiwan University. Taipei

iii


Contents
Scope and Sequence
Series Overview
Chapter 1

The Youngsters Behind YouTube

vi
viii
1


«Chen and Hurley decided to create YouTube, to make
uploading and sharing videos online as easy as anyone
could want."

Chapter 2

When to Use Female Nouns
"Today's topic is the use of feminine nouns such as
'actress' and 'comedienne:"

Chapter 3

Your Negative Attitude Can Hurt Your Career

13

25

"Perhaps the one type you want to avoid (hanging
around and being) more than any other is the
negative person:'

Chapter 4

The Colorful World of Synesthesia

37

"People with synesthesia experience a 'blending' of their
senses when they see, smell, taste, touch, or hear."


Chapter 5

What Is Creative Thinking?

49

"By changing perspective and playing with our
knowledge, we can make the ordinary extraordinary
and the unusual commonplace:'

Chapter 6

Listen Up
"Many people tend to assume listening is basically the
same thing as hearing-a dangerous misconception that
leads to believing that effective listening is instinctive:'

iv

61


Chapter 7

Students Won't Give Up Their French Fries

73

"They may be more health conscious, but that doesn't

necessarily mean that they're eating healthY:'
Chapter 8

Why I Quit the Company

85

"People can't understand why I would want to give up
a prestigious and secure job. But I think I'd have been
crazy to stay."
Chapter 9

East Meets West on Love's Risky Cyberhighway

97

"Alevtina lvanova is among thousands of Russian
women turning to the Internet to meet Westerners:'
Chapter 10

Don't Let Stereotypes Warp Your Judgment

109

"Stereotypes are a kind of gossip about the world,
a gossip that makes us pre-judge people before
we ever lay eyes on them:'
Chapter 11

The Art of Reading


121

"Reading, or the enjoyment of books, has always been
regarded among the charms of a cultured life."
Chapter 12

When E.T. Calls

133

"The long-term consequences of finding extraterrestrials
will be profound:'
Culture and Language Notes

145

Maps

160

Mini-Dictionary

163

irLanguage.com

v



\\\\\, irLanguagc.com

Scope and Sequence
Building Vocabulary

Chapter

Content

Chapter 1

How two young men
created the most
popular video website
in the world

Identifying main ideas

Understanding
compound nouns

Gender-specific nouns

Supporting main ideas

Using female and
gender-neutral nouns

The importance of
keeping a positive

attitude

Scanning for specific
information

Using synonyms
and antonyms

A sensory condition
called synesthesia

Making inferences

Understanding
verb-forming suffixes

Chapter 5

Suggestions for
learning to think
creatively

Using context

Understanding
figures of speech

Chapter 6

Becoming an

effective listener

Recognizing sentence
transitions

Using adverbs
and intensifiers

The Youngsters
Behind YouTube

Chapter 2
When to Use
Female Nouns
Chapter 3

Your Negative
Attitude Can Hurt
Your Career

Chapter 4

The Colorful World
of Synesthesia

What Is Creative
Thinking?

Listen Up


vi


Chapter

Content

Reading Skill

Building Vocabulary

American students'
obsession with food

Summarizing

Learning idiomatic
expressions

An employee's
decision to resign

Paraphrasing

Understanding
phrasal verbs

Finding a husband or
wife via the Internet


Identifying points
of view

Using modifiers

Don't Let
Stereotypes Warp
Your Judgment

The harmful effects
of stereotyping

Recognizing sources

Forming participial
adjectives

Chapter 11

Suggestions for
becoming a skillful
reader

Recognizing analogies

Learning word forms

Chapter 12

Exploring the

possibility of
extraterrestrial life

Recognizing scenarios

Understanding nouns
derived from adjectives

Chapter 7

Students Won't
Give Up Their
French Fries

Chapter 8

Why I Quit
the Company

Chapter 9

East Meets West
on Love's Risky
Cyberhighway

Chapter 10

The Art of Reading

When E.T. Calls


vii


Series Overview

with Teaching Suggestions
Select Readings, Second Edition is a reading course for students of English.
In Select Readings, Second Edition, high-interest, authentic reaserve as springboards for reading skills development, vocabulary building, and
thought-provoking discussions and writing.

The readings represent a wide range of genres (newspaper and magazine
articles, personal essays, textbook chapters, book excerpts, and online discussions)
gathered from well-respected sources, such as The Chronicle of Higher Education
and Science News, and approved by experienced teachers.

General Approach to Reading Instruction
The following principles have guided the development of Select Readings,
Second Edition:
• Exposing students to a variety of text types and genres helps them develop
more effective reading skills. Students learn to handle the richness and depth
of writing styles they will encounter as they read more widely in English.
• Readers become engaged with a selection when they are asked to respond
personally to its theme. While comprehension questions help students see if
they have understood the information in a reading, discussion questions ask
students to consider the issues raised by the passage.
• Readers sharpen their reading, vocabulary-building, and language skills
when skills work is tied directly to the content and language of each
reading passage. This book introduces students to reading skills such as

summarizing and paraphrasing and vocabulary-building strategies such
as learning word forms and understanding phrasal verbs. Each skill was
chosen in consultation with teachers to ensure that the most applicable and
appropriate skills were selected for students at the Upper-lntermediate level.
• Good readers make good writers. Reading helps students develop writing
skills, while writing experience helps students become better readers.
• Background knowledge plays an important role in reading comprehension.
An important goal of Select Readings, Second Edition is to illustrate how
thinking in advance about the topic of a reading prepares readers to better
comprehend and interact with a text.

Chapter Overview
Each chapter in Select Readings, Second Edition includes the eight sections
described below.
1. Opening Page
The purpose of this page is to draw readers into the theme and content of the
chapter with relevant artwork and a compelling quotation.

viii


Teaching Suggestions:
• Ask students to describe what they see in the photo(s) or artwork on the
page and guess what the chapter is about. Have them read the quotation,
restate it in their own words, and then say if they agree with it. Finally, ask
what connection there might be between the image and the quotation.
• Call students' attention to the Chapter Focus box. Give them a chance to
think about the content and skills they are about to study and to set their
own learning goals for the chapter.
2. Before You Read

The first activity in each Before You Read section is designed to get students to
connect personally to the topic of the chapter and to activate their background
knowledge of the topic. A second activity or question in this section asks
students to further explore their knowledge of the topic by completing a task
with a partner. The third activity asks students to complete a Previewing Chart,
which provides specific tasks for previewing a text. The purpose of this chart
is to encourage students to make a habit of using simple previewing strategies
before they read any text.
Teaching Suggestions:
• Make sure that students understand the purpose of the Before You Read
activities. Explain that activating prior knowledge will help them to better
comprehend the reading passage.
3. Reading Passage
In general, the readings become increasingly long and/or more complex as the
chapters progress. To help students successfully tackle each passage, we have
provided the following support tools:
Vocabulary glosses. Challenging words and expressions are glossed throughout
the readings. In most cases, we have glossed chunks of words instead of
individual vocabulary items. This approach helps students develop a better
sense of how important context is to understanding the meaning of new words.
Culture and Language Notes. On pages 145-159, students will find explanations
for cultural references and language usage that appear in blue type in the
readings. Notes are provided on a wide range of topics from scientific
information, to geographical references, to famous people.
Maps. Each location featured in a reading passage is clearly marked on one
of the maps found on pages 160-162.
Numbered lines. For easy reference, every fifth line of each reading passage
is numbered.
Recorded reading passages. Listening to someone reading a text aloud helps
language learners see how words are grouped in meaningful chunks, thus

aiding comprehension.

ix


Teaching Suggestions:
• Encourage students to read actively. Circling words, writing questions in
the margins, and taking notes are three ways in which students can make
reading a more active and meaningful experience.
• Play the recorded version of the reading passage and ask students to listen
to how the reader groups words together. As they listen to the recording,
students can lightly underline or circle the groups of words.
4. After You Read: Understanding the Text
Following each reading, there are two to three post-reading activities that give
students the chance to (a) clarify their understanding of the text, (b) practice
reading skills previously introduced, and (c) discuss the issues raised in the
reading. The first activity in this section is designed to give students practice
with the types of comprehension questions used on exams such as the TOEFL®
test, the TOEIC® test, and IELTS™. Questions are also labeled to highlight the
reading skill required to answer the question.
Teaching Suggestions:
• Get students to discuss their reactions to the readings in pairs or groups. The
process of discussing questions and answers gives students an opportunity to
check their comprehensio!'l more critically.
• If time permits and you would like students to have additional writing
practice, ask them to write a short essay or a journal entry on one of the
questions in the Consider the Issues section.
5. Building Vocabulary
Reading extensively is an excellent way for students to increase their
vocabulary base. Considering this, we pay careful attention to developing

students' vocabulary-building skills in each chapter of Select Readings, Second
Edition. A variety of vocabulary-building skills are introduced and recycled
throughout the book. Each Building Vocabulary section starts out with a short
explanation and examples of the skill in focus. In the activities that follow the
explanation, students typically scan the reading to gather and analyze various
types of words and then use the words in a new context.
Teaching Suggestions:
• View the explanation and examples at the beginning of each Building Vocabulary
section before asking students to tackle the activities that follow. Encourage
them to ask any questions they have about the explanations or examples.
• Encourage students to keep a vocabulary notebook. Present various ways
in which students can organize the words in their notebook: by chapter, by
topic, by part of speech, etc.

x


6. Reading Skill
At the beginning of each Reading Skill section, students encounter a short
explanation of the skill in focus and, when appropriate, an example of how
that skill relates to the reading in the chapter. The first task following this
explanation asks students to return to the reading to think about and use the
new reading skill. The new Apply the Reading Skill sections then give students
the opportwlity to apply the strategy to a new short reading that is related to the
topic of the main reading passage.
Teaching Suggestions:
• Review the explanations and sample sentences at the beginning of each
Reading Skills section before asking students to tackle the questions
that follow. Encourage them to ask any questions they have about the
explanations or examples.

• Reflect with students on the ways in which they can apply the reading skills
they have learned in each chapter to other reading passages. Then have them
apply the new reading skill as they work with the second reading passage in
this section.
7. Discussion and Writing
At the end of each chapter, students have an opportunity to talk and write
about a variety of issues. The activities in this section provide students with
a chance to broaden their views on the topic of the reading and to address
more global issues and concerns.
Teaching Suggestions:
• When time permits, let students discuss a question a second time with
a different partner or group. This allows them to apply what they learned
in their first discussion of the question.
• Choose one or more of the questions in this section as an essay topic
for students.
8. Words to Remember
Each chapter ends with a list of Words to Remember. A majority of these words
appear on the Oxford 3000- word list, and many are also highlighted on the
Academic Word List. This section provides an efficient means for students
to keep track of important new vocabulary by chapter. In addition, the new
Mini-Dictionary on pages 163-172 features carefully crafted definitions of
each Word to Remember from the new Oxford American Dictionary for
learners of English, giving students an alphabetical reference of the words
and their definitions all in one place.

Additional Resources for Teachers of Reading
• Teaching Second Language Reading by Thom Hudson
• Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading by Sandra Silberstein

• Reading by Catherine Wallace

irLanguage.com

xi


Series Components
Testing Program CO-ROM with Student Book Answer Key
Students today are facing increased pressure to excel at standardized testing in
order to gain entrance to universities and secure competitive jobs. Select Readings,
Second Edition offers an exciting new Testing Program CD-ROM, including tests
modelled after the IELTS™ , TOEFL ®, and TOEIC® standardized tests, as well as
general achievement and unit tests. The reading tests included on the new Testing
Program CD-ROM with Student Book Answer Key were written and approved
by testing experts to ensure a close connection to the widely used standardized
tests above. Each test features a reading passage followed by questions designed
to measure comprehension as well as reading- and vocabulary-skill proficiency.
All unit tests feature new and different reading passages to test the skills learned
in that unit.

Class Audio CDs
Select Readings, Second Edition offers Class Audio CDs featuring carefully
recorded audio of all main reading passages in each level of the series. Giving
students the opportunity to listen to a fluent English speaker as they follow along
in the text significantly aids comprehension and supports listening and speaking
skill development. This is particularly useful for aural learners, who absorb
information best through hearing it presented. Each Class Audio CD features
a variety of accents to expose students to the many sounds of English around
the world today.

Audio Download Center

AUDIO
DOWNLOAD
CENTER
The Select Readings Audio
Download Center allows you
to access and download audio
files for each main reading
passage in the Student Book.
Choose your level >

Elementary

Pre-lntermediate

Intermediate

Upper-Intermediate

Every main reading from the series is available for download through the
Select Readings, Second Edition Audio Download Center. Students and teachers
can visit www.oup.com/elt/selectreadings2e for access to the downloadable mp3s
for any time, anywhere practice and self-study.
*TOEIC" and TOEFL. are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS).
This publication is not endorsed or approved by ETS.

xii

CONTENT

How two young men created
the most popular video
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BUll.l)ING VOCABULARY �

Understanding
compoupd nouns


Before You Read
A. Connect with the topic. In the chart below, list two more ways you
interact with friends online. Then list the ways you do each activity.
· ··

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Things You.Do;. with:F.riends Online .':
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1. share pictures

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How do you do it?

by e-mail

on social networ�ing sites
on my blog
2.

3.

B. Pair work. Compare answers lo Activity A. How would you interact with
friends if you didn't have access to e-mail or the Internet?

C. Preview the reading. Look quickly over the article on pages 3-5 to
complete the Previewing Chart below.
0�' Y. 1 0�j

Previewing Chart

c>J.D

1. Title of the reading: ___________________
2. Names of people and companies 3. Key words. (What words appear
several times? List 3 more.)
in the reading. (list 3 more.)

Steve Chen
4. I think this reading is probably about

2

Chapter 1

I The Youngsters Behind YouTube

busine.55


Reading Passage

AUDI@
DOWNLOAD

The Youngsters Behind VouTube: Steve Chen
and Chad Hurley
by Evan Carmichael
"Everybody aspires to be a star:' says Steve Chen, a Taiwanese
immigrant who came to the United States with his family in hopes of
a better life. Chen's aspirations became a reality when he, along with
Pennsylvania-born Chad Hurley, created what is today the world's largest
s online video website. YouTube has now become a global sensation,
propelling both Hurley and Chen to the top of Business 2.0's list of "The
50 People Who Matter Now." YouTube was also named TIME magazine's
2006 "Invention of the Year:' When Hurley and Chen decided to sell their
company, they did so for a hefty price tag of $1.65 billion.
Steve Shih Chen was born in August 1978 in Taiwan, where he lived
until he was eight years old. His family then emigrated to the U.S., where
Chen attended John Hersey High School and later the Illinois Math and
Science Academy. After graduating from high school, Chen enrolled
in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to pursue a degree
15 in computer science. But it would be a part-time job he was hired for
at a small e-commerce start-up called PayPal that would change his
life forever.
10

20

2s

Chad Meredith Hurley was born in 1977 as the middle child I of parents
Donald and JoAnn Hurley. His father was a financial consultant, while
his mother worked as a local schoolteacher. Chad, along with his older
sister and younger brother, grew up near Birdsboro, Pennsylvania. After

graduating from Twin Valley High School in 1995, where his mother
continues to teach in the gifted program,2 Hurley enrolled in the Indiana
University of Pennsylvania to pursue a bachelor's degree in fine art.
Before graduating from the university, Hurley also applied for a job at
PayPal. He was flown to California and, as part of his job interview, was
asked to design a logo for the young company that would demonstrate
his artistic abilities. Hurley got the job, and the logo he designed remains
PayPal's official logo to this day.

Maps
pages 161-162
Culture and
Language Notes
page 145

I the middle child the second-born child in a family with three children
2 gifted program a program of study designed for exceptionally intelligent students

3


30

35

40

45

It was while working at PayPal that Hurley and Chen became fast

friends. 3 They began to spend their free time discussing several different
business ideas. When eBay purchased PayPal for $1.54 billion, the
two received large bonuses for their role in growing the small start-up.
They decided to use their money to create their own venture. With
Chen's engineering skills and Hurley's creativity, they thought forming
a company together was a plausible idea.
In January 2005, Hurley and Chen attended a friend's dinner party
in San Francisco. They had taken a few digital videos of the event and
wanted to share them with each other the next day, but could not find a
good means to do so. The files were too big to e-mail, and posting them
online would take hours. With that, Hurley and Chen had their first idea
for a sustainable business. Using the money they had received from the
PayPal buyout, Chen and Hurley decided to create YouTube, to make
uploading and sharing videos online as easy as anyone could want. It
was the birth of a revolution.4

"We're not in a hurrY:' Hurley once said. "We're interested in building
our community. We're trying to improve discovery. We're trying to
improve the experience for people on our site." They might not have been
in a hurry, but their site sure grew in one. Today, YouTube has almost half
so of the online video market, and it is still growing. How did a university
dropout and a boy who loved to draw become the industry leaders they
are considered now?

55

60

User-Oriented: Hurley and Chen knew from personal experience how
difficult it was to upload and share videos online. And that was why they

decided to create YouTube. They wanted to create a website that others
like themselves would find useful. By prioritizing its users' needs and
being as easy and interactive as possible, YouTube was able to find a loyal
audience that numbers in the millions.
Unique: When you visit YouTube.com, you are most likely searching
for something that you cannot find anywhere else. From long-lost '80s
music videos, to political speeches, to the current events of today, you are
almost guaranteed to find it on YouTube. And that is why people keep
coming back for more.

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3 fast friends very good friends
4 the birth of a revolution beginning of a dramatic change in the way things are done

4 Chapter 1

I The Youngsters Behind YouTube


65

70

75

80

85

Viral: Both YouTube's marketing strategy and growth as a result have
been viral in nature. From holding promotions such as the iPod Nano
daily giveaway to having an external video player that can be placed on
any website and can link back to their own, Hurley and Chen created
a platform that continues to grow at an exponential rate.s
Well-Timed: Some have suggested that YouTube's success was due to a
perfect storm6 of environmental factors. More to the point, it was Hurley
and Chen's ability to not only notice, but also take advantage of that storm
that pushed them to the top. From the lessening of the cost of bandwidth
and digital cameras to the growth of online social networks, Hurley and
Chen created a company that was right for the times.
Focused: Hurley and Chen were never out to create a money-making
machine. They wanted to create a sustainable business, but also one that
meant something to its users. And so, instead of overloading its pages
and videos with advertisements, Hurley and Chen are being careful and
testing the waters as to which ads will work, and where. They are refusing
to lose sight of 7 their number one priority, their user.
YouTube put the right technology out there to meet a need, but it did
so much more than that. It created a simple and unique way for people to
connect with each other. It has become the fastest-growing video sharing
site of all time, all the while outliving the critics' claims that it is just
another teenage fad that will soon die down. With the Google buyout, the
company faces a more uncertain future in terms of how it will operate and
who will call the shots.a One thing is for sure, however, and that is that

Hurley and Chen are still here, and their business is still booming.
Word Count: 1,018

5 exponential rate

Reading Time: ___

(Minutes)

Words per Minute: ___

(Word Count/Reading Time)

extremely fast rate

6 perfect storm situation in which a number of events occur at once to produce a dramatic result
7 lose sight of forget about
8 call the shots make the imp ortant decisions

5


After You Read

Understanding the Text

A. Comprehension
For each item below, fill in the correct circle.
Identifying the Author>s Purpose llie author probably wrote the article in
order to_.

@ explain how to create a start-up
® tell the story of the success of YouTube
© share his opinion about Steve Chen and Chad Hurley
® describe how people can use the Internet to share videos
2. Scanning for Details Chen and Hurley_.
@ spent over $1 billion building YouTube
CID bought YouTube for over $1 billion
© sold YouTube for $1.54 billion
® sold YouTube for $1.65 billion
3. Scanning for Details Steve Chen is
@ an artist
CID an engineer
© a student
CID a teacher
4. Scanning for Details Chad Hurley is_.
@ an investor
CID an engineer
© an artist
® a programmer
5. Scanning for Details Chen and Hurley got the idea for creating YouTube
because they_.
VY euJuyeu wunung LOgeu1er aL rayPal
CID had received bonuses from the PayPal buyout
© needed to get new jobs after they quit working at Pay Pal
® wanted to share videos they took at a dinner party

6

Chapter 1

I The Youngsters Behind YouTube


6. Scanning for Details According to the article, two reasons that YouTube is
successtul are that
@ it's easy to use, and it came at the right time
@ it's viral, and posting videos is free
© you can find almost anything on it, and the company donates money
to charity
® people like seeing themselves and their friends online, and it's the only
video-sharing website on the Internet

B. Vocabulary
Underline these words in the reading passage on pages 3-5. Then match the
words with their definitions.
1.

user-oriented

a. becoming popular very quickly, especially online

2.

bandwidth

b. how much information can be sent at once
c. a new company, especially an Internet company

3._ start-up
4.

e-commerce

5.

viral

d. can continue for a long time

e. designed with users' needs in mind
f. business done on the Internet

6. __ sustainable

C. Consider the Issues

I

Work with a partner to complete the chart below.
Popular Websites

1.

What can you do on
this website?

I

Other Similar Websites

2.

3.

4.

5.

7


Building Vocabulary
Understanding Compound Nouns
Compound nouns are nouns that are made up of two or more words.
Most compound nouns consist of a noun + noun or an adjective + noun.
Compound nouns can be open (two or more separate words), closed (two
words together), or hyphenated.
Examples:

video blog

website brother-in-law

The first word in a compound noun usually modifies the second noun.
For example, in the compound noun video blog, the word video identifies
the type of blog.
As a compound word becomes more common, it often changes and
simplifies. For example, electronic mail became e-mail. The open
compound noun web log became the closed weblog and then was
shortened into a single noun: blog. To check the spelling of a compound

noun, it's best to check a current dictionary.
A. Find and circle these compound nouns in the article on pages 3-5. Then
use five of them to complete the sentences below.
financial consultant

music videos

fine art

schoolteacher

price tag

free time

bachelor's degree

high school

video player

current events

part-time job

1. When I checked the ________ on that laptop, I realized it
wasn't as expensive as I had expected.
2. Alan reads th_e news online every day so he can keep up with
3. What do you like to do in your ________ ? I like to read
and play my guitar.

at the computer store so she
4. Kim wants to get a
can get discounts on computer equipment.
in psychology, and now I'm going back
5. I have a
to school to study psychiatry.

8 Chapter 1

I The Youngsters Behind You Tube


B. Each pair of words below makes a compound noun. Look up each
compound noun in a dictionary to see whether it should be open,
closed, or hyphenated.
1. book+ mark

2. home+ page
3. search+ engine
4. world+ wide+ web
5. dry+ cleaning
6. high + light
7. hanger+ on
8. passer+ by

9. three+ year+ old
10. black+ board
11. feed+ back

12. soft+ ware

13. break+ down
14. child+ hood
15. health + care
C. Choose five nouns from Activity B and write a sentence using each one.
1.���������������������������

9


Reading SlIdentifying Main Ideas

In a typical piece of writing, the author expresses two or three main ideas,
or general messages, about a topic.
When you are looking for the main ideas in a piece of writing, consider
the author's purpose.
Examples
• If the author's purpose is to tell the story of how a company was created,
like in the article on pages 3-5, the main ideas will probably be about
the steps that led to the creation of the company.
• If the author wants to explain why a company is successful, like in the
article on pages 3-5, the main ideas will be about the reasons behind
the success.
• If the author wants to express an opinion or examine multiple sides of an
issue, the main ideas will be the general arguments about the issue.

A. Analyze the Reading
Which of the following statements express the author's main ideas about
YouTube, Steve Chen, and Chad Hurley? Check (.I) five statements.
1.

Steve Chen was born in Taiwan, and Chad Hurley was born in
Pennsylvania.

2.

Steve Chen and Chad Hurley created the world's largest online
video website.

3.

Chen and Hurley started talking about business ideas while they
were working at PayPal together.

4.

PayPal was purchased for $1.54 billion, and Chen and Hurley
received large bonuses.

5.

Chen and Hurley's bonuses from the PayPal buyout enabled them
to start a business.

6.

In 2005, Hurley and Chen went to a dinner party.

7.

The idea for creating YouTube was born when Chen and Hurley
realized they couldn't easily upload videos online.

8.

YouTube is an industry leader for several reasons, including the
facts that it's user-oriented and was well-timed.

9.

YouTube is successful not only because it meets a need, but also
because it is a way for people to connect.

10.

The critics thought YouTube was a teenage fad that wouldn't last.

10 Chapter 1

I The Youngsters Behind YouTube


B. Apply the Reading Skill
Read the article below. Underline the author's main ideas.

We've all heard the incredible dot-com success stories about Internet start-ups that
became billion-dollar companies almost overnight. Companies like e-Bay, PayPal,
YouTube, and Google turned a lucky few into instant millionaires. But what about the
so-called "dot-bombs," the companies that didn't make it? Who were they, and what
did they do wrong?

Webvan.com was an online grocery store that was founded in the late 1990s and
went bankrupt in 2001. On Webvan.com, a user could order groceries and have them
delivered whenever they wanted. Sounds like a great idea, right? So why did it fail?
Like some of its fellow Internet failures, Webvan.com moved much too fast. Within
a year and a half, Webvan was available in eight cities and had plans to enter over
a dozen more. Perhaps counting on a huge number of future users, Webvan spent
over $1 billion on warehouses and supplies before it had become profitable. But the
company didn't attract the number of users it needed and soon closed its doors.
Another mistake shared by some dot-bombs is spending too much money on
advertising and losing sight of the company's real goals. For example, the company
Pets.com focused a great deal of its energy and funding on commercials featuring
a loveable sock puppet. The puppet became extremely popular with consumers, and
the company spent millions of dollars on advertising. But the start-up's actual service,
selling and delivering pet supplies, never became popular enough with consumers to
justify all the money that was spent on promotion.
The downfall of some other dot-bombs was focusing on cutting-edge technology
more than user needs. This was one of the factors leading to the failure of the British
start-up Boo.com. This start-up was created to sell fashion online to consumers around
the world. However, the website was difficult to navigate, and it used technology that
required a lot of bandwidth to operate at a time when most people were using slow
dial-up connections.

Compare the information from this article with the article on pages 3-5. What
did the creators of YouTube do right that these other companies did wrong?
Discuss your answers with a partner.
11


Discussion & Writing
I. With a partner, discuss ideas for a new Internet company. Write at least

four ideas .
•
•

•
•
2. Evaluate each of the ideas. Which ones are unique? Which ones would
probably be the most profitable? Which ones best fulfill a need?
3. Choose one of your ideas and complete the chart below.
What product or service will the
website provide?
Why do people need this?
How will the website be unique?
How will people find out about
the website?
How will we make money?
What problems might we encounter
while building this company?

4. Use the information from the chart to write a paragraph about your plans
for the Internet company.

Words to Remember
Mini-Dictionary

page 163

NOUNS

: VERBS

aspiration
bandwidth
bonus
e-commerce
logo
market
platform
promotion
sensation
start-up
venture

:
:
:

:

aspire
boom
demonstrate
launch
prioritize
pursue

12 Chapter 1 I The Youngsters Behind YouTube

ADJECTIVES
hefty

plausible
sustainable